12 Naughty Days of Christmas_Volume Four

by Piper Stone

  “The duke is here? What can he be thinking?”

  “He wishes to speak with Arabella before she leaves for the church.”

  “Certainly not! The very idea. It would be the very worst of bad luck.”

  Alfred withdrew to inform the duke of her mama’s decision. Really, it was the outside of enough.

  “Not even a glimpse, Mama?” Arabella said forlornly.

  “All the Wildertons were born arrogant. It won’t do your bridegroom any harm to have to wait for you.”

  What about me, Arabella thought. What about what I want?

  It wouldn’t help to say anything. Mama was in high alt, her every maternal dream on the verge of coming true. So, Arabella only asked, “Wilderton?”

  “The duke’s family name. Rothley is his title.”

  “What will my name be, once we are wed?”

  “Her Grace, the Duchess of Rothley,” Mama said with a great deal of satisfaction. “You won’t use Wilderton. You will sign your name as Arabella Rothley. It’s the way these things are done.” Mama picked up Arabella’s veil and pinned it over her carefully coiled hair. “A duchess. How marvelous.” She sighed happily and spread the veil over Arabella’s shoulders. “There, dearest. You look like a fairy princess. Your duke is a lucky man.”

  Arabella stared back at the mirror. Her dark curls were restrained beneath the misty lace of her veil, her face pale and set, her brown eyes huge.

  “You don’t have a lick of color in your face,” Mama scolded. “Bite your lips, carefully now. I’ll add just a touch of lip salve. No rouge, it would look common. Thank heavens a pale bride is considered quite fashionable. There, you are ready. Now, where on earth is Papa?”

  It was going to happen. She was about to marry a stranger. Arabella repressed a fleeting image of Mr. Standen in the doorway, as her brother’s carriage carried her out of his life. It would not do to think of him now. She was promised to another.

  It was the longest walk of Arabella’s life. The church was cold, even with every pew filled with the members of the ton. The wedding of an eligible duke was a social event. Arabella hesitated as she approached the altar, her posy of white roses and holly shaking in her hands. The Duke of Rothley stood facing the vicar. His hair was a rich brown, cut in a fashionable crop. His wide shoulders were clothed in fine blue wool. He didn’t look that old, Arabella realized with relief. Though, when he turned around, she might see a wizened countenance with wrinkled skin, liberally pocked with age spots. Would he even have his own teeth?

  Arabella drew an unsteady breath and took her place beside her groom. A large hand, clad in kidskin, reached out to clasp hers with a strong grip. At least, he wasn’t feeble. She kept her eyes fixed on the stained glass behind the altar, her heart beating very fast. As the service began, the duke squeezed her hand. Arabella started in surprise. The old dickens must be lusty for his young bride. She repressed a shudder.

  “Will you not even look at me, Kitten?” he whispered.

  Arabella gasped out loud, her gaze swinging to meet the duke’s. “You!”

  The glinting blue eyes of Mr. Standen met hers. “Don’t be angry, little one. I can explain everything.”

  “Christian James Standen Wilderton, wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?” the vicar intoned. “Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?”

  “I will,” the duke said strongly.

  “How could you lie to me?” Arabella hissed.

  “I never lied. I merely concealed the truth. There is a difference.”

  “Arabella Elizabeth Louise Linton, wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”

  A small silence fell as Arabella fumed. Someone in the congregation coughed. She sent her groom a sideways glance. “Obey?”

  “Definitely. Kitten,” the duke raised her hand to his lips, “I love you.”

  Arabella hesitated.

  “Kitten?”

  “Damn you,” Arabella muttered, and the duke’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “Very well,” she said out loud, “I will.”

  Mama’s sigh of relief was clearly audible. The thing was done. The rest of the marriage service passed in a happy dream. Arabella was marrying the man she loved.

  After the vicar’s final blessing, the newly wedded couple walked down the aisle, Arabella’s hand tucked into the duke’s arm as if he would never let her go. He paused on the outer steps of the church. “I will promise you one thing, Arabella, that is beyond our vows.”

  “And what is that?”

  His blue eyes were dazzling in the sun. “I will give you the happily-ever-after you have longed for, and the brightest London Season ever. Anything you want: assemblies, balls, and evening parties. I might even throw in a Venetian breakfast.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” Arabella told him, smiling at her new husband, “but as long as I have you, I don’t give a toss about the Season.”

  The duke touched her cheek and smiled back, with the promise of a lifetime of happiness ahead of them. And, then, he kissed her – right in front of everyone. His lips were warm against her mouth, his tongue sliding between her lips with sensual intent. Arabella shivered with desire. Tonight, he would claim her, and she couldn’t wait.

  The duke lifted his head to grin down at her. “Happy Christmas, Kitten.”

  The End

  Other Titles by Viola Morne

  Don’t miss these exciting titles by Viola Morne and Blushing Books!

  The Cold Heart Series

  Taming His Scandalous Countess, Book 1

  Educating His Elinor, Book 2

  Mastering His Marquise, Book 3

  Discipline & Diana, Book 4

  The Marriage Broker Series

  How to Marry a Beast, Book 1

  How to Rescue Rapunzel, Book 2

  Ravishing Minerva, Book 3

  The Runaway Miss Series

  The Marquis’ Runaway Miss, Book 1

  The Duke’s Little Concubine, Book 2

  Lord Lucifer’s Little Bride, Book 3

  Mayfair Menage Series

  The Passion of Jane, Book 1

  Three Lords and Little Molly, Book 2

  Little Duchess Alice, Book 3

  Saving Miss Grace, Book 4

  Single Titles

  The Captain’s Virgin

  The Reluctant Mistress

  Little Lightfingers

  Connect with Viola Morne:

  www.violamorne.com

  Viola Morne

  Viola Morne, whose love for historical romances began after discovering Georgette Heyer in her high school library, never dreamed that a degree in history would lead to writing erotic spanking romances. Thankfully, Blushing Books published the first book she ever wrote, and she has been happily scribbling away ever since.

  Viola lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband, children and two bossy dogs. She spends most of her time reading, writing, and walking those dogs. She has been known to cook the occasional meal, but swears her husband is the better chef.

  Viola loves hearing from her readers and will happily discuss the nineteenth century, so please drop her a line!

  Connect with Viola Morne:

  www.violamorne.com

  Naughty Miss Santa and the Billionaires

  12 Naughty Days of Christmas

  Chloe Kent

  ©2017 by Blushing Books® and Chloe Kent

  All rights reserved.

  No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Blushing Books®,

  a subsidiary of

  ABCD Graphics and Design

  977 Seminole Trail #233

  Charlottesville, VA 22901

  The trademark Blushing Books®

  is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office.

  Kent, Chloe

  Naughty Miss Santa and the Billionaires

  Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

  Chapter 1

  Haylee Phillips paced the floor of her tiny little lounge and groaned intermittently as she willed her cousin to pick up her damn phone. She was only going through the most catastrophic event of her life and she needed Amelia to tell her what to do to make it all right again.

  “Oh God,” she whispered to herself, holding her chest above her heart. Was she going to have a heart attack?

  “Haylee?” Amelia finally answered sleepily on the other side, after ten rings.

  “Oh, thank you, Cuz. I’m so sorry to disturb you—”

  “On my honeymoon, where it’s the middle of the night here, I might add,” Amelia finished for her.

  “Yes, your honeymoon. I know, of course I know. I’m so, so, sorry, Ame. Please forgive me. I’ll owe you for the rest of my life.”

  “Okay, what have you done?” There it was. That tell me your problems and I’ll fix it for you tone that Ame had.

  Instantly Haylee knew that all would be well again. She was generally a good girl, but sometimes trouble seemed to pop up around her. That had been going on since they were in kindergarten together. Ame was her lifesaver.

  She took a deep breath. “I did something utterly stupid.”

  “Well you wouldn’t be interrupting me on my honeymoon if it was anything less, right?”

  “Right, right,” Haylee agreed urgently. “I, umm, sent them something… I really shouldn’t have.”

  “Okay,” Ame said slowly. “Them? Who?”

  “The MacAveries.” Ever since they were little, Haylee and Ame had referred to them as the MacAveries – them being James MacPherson and Alex Avery, the two billionaires who ruled the world from their offices here in New York. And now she had sent them something.

  “What did you send them?”

  “A Christmas gift. Of sorts…”

  “And this is a bad thing why?”

  “It’s just… I shouldn’t have sent them anything at all. You know my history with those two.”

  “All right. What exactly did you send them?”

  “A card.”

  “With what on it?”

  “My name.”

  “Okay. Seriously, I love you, but what the hell are you going on about? I don’t get it, Haylee.”

  “I may have attached something to the card…”

  “Like what?”

  Haylee cringed. “My… umm… my… drawers?” Oh, crap, yes. That’s what she had sent them, her drawers.

  “Haylee? I’m not playing a hundred questions with you anymore. Just tell me everything from the beginning. And I mean everything.”

  “Okay, so I woke up and it was so cold and I checked the weather and then I stubbed my little—”

  “Haylee!” Amelia was getting serious now.

  “Okay, okay. We had our Christmas party at work and I may have had too much to drink—”

  “You don’t drink at all. What did you drink?”

  “An eggnog.”

  “An eggnog?”

  “Fine. I had three, okay? I was feeling festive and you know I can’t handle even a sip of wine. So I felt really tipsy and daring and I was really into the spirit of the holidays. So I thought I should totally send the MacAveries a present. I mean my intention was good, right? So, I went into my office and I wrote out a nice card wishing them a merry Christmas. Except, I ended up putting hearts on it with all our three names in it, like a stupid clueless teenager. Not my proudest moment, I know. But then I thought, the card feels so empty and I thought maybe a pen would be a good complement, but the only one I had was the one I was writing with. I had chewed off just a little of the tip already, so that wasn’t going to work.

  “Then I… just started giggling and I pulled down my panties, my favorite Christmas pair. You should know. And put them into a box and wrapped it up with gift wrap and then I took a cab home. I wasn’t going to do anything with it. I wasn’t that far gone. But I asked the cab driver if I should give them the present or not—”

  “You asked the cab driver?”

  “He looked like Santa, okay? So judge me.”

  “Fine and then?”

  “He said, ‘Well is it a bad gift? Will it hurt anyone?’ I said no, they might find it hilarious and have a good laugh. And he said in that case I should definitely give them the present, because it was a happy gift. So he drove me to MacPherson Towers and I made my way to the security guard on duty and asked him to please make sure his big bosses got it ASAP. He said sure thing. Then I went home and slept. Now I’m awake and… Oh, Ame, I basically asked a frigging cab driver permission to gift my panties. What am I going to do?

  “I drove past there this morning. A new guard was on duty and my present was nowhere in sight. He wouldn’t let me any further inside without an appointment. Maybe the other security guard took it for himself and I don’t have to worry about it? Do you think that happened?”

  “Not likely. Anyone who works for them are the most loyal people in the world.”

  And Ame would know. She worked for them too. Ame’s mother, who happened to be Haylee’s favorite aunt, had been the MacPherson’s housekeeper since forever and Ame now worked as one of their personal assistants. If anyone could help her out of this mess it was her cousin, who kinda knew the crush she’d had on them both for years now.

  “Okay, so you want this present back?”

  “Yes!” Haylee yelled. “I would just die, Ame, just die if they found it. I would literally just—”

  “Right, I get it, you would just die. Okay, how will you know it’s your gift? Is there card attached?”

  “Well, no. The card is inside the box.

  “Will you recognize the gift wrap?

  “I’m not sure exactly, I’m really fuzzy on those details. I think it may have been red with Santas on it?”

  “Oh, that narrows it down considerably, because red gift wrap with Santas on it is not at all a common thing this time of the year. What size of box, more or less?”

  “I’m not sure, I just can’t remember. I’m sorry. I swear if you help me get out of this, I will—”

  Ame gave a big theatrical sigh. “Give me ten minutes. I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thank you. Thank you, Ame, you’re the best cousin any girl could have. Any girl.”

  “Just hang on, okay? I first have to see what’s going on.”

  “Thank you. Love you so much.”

  Ame cut the call and Haylee sank into her sofa and allowed herself a breath of relief, her cousin could solve any problem on earth. She closed her eyes and made a mental deal with herself. Since the day she’d turned thirteen, she had been star-struck by both of them. It just happened over night, considering they did nothing but tease her relentlessly all the time before that. They pulled at her pigtails, calling her ‘Ants’ occasionally, especially when they really wanted to annoy her. Because once, a single ant had crawled up her leg and after she’d screamed, she cried. She was ten, for goodness sake, and hated things that crawled.

  James, seven years older than her, had flipped her world and fueled all her girly fantasies, and Alex, four years older than her, had done exactly the same. They were inseparable as youngsters, with Alex practically growing up in James’ house and they we
re invincible as business partners now. For the following seven years, she had been torn between the two of them and unable to make a choice on whom she had the biggest crush.

  Once she turned twenty, her fantasies took a crazy, insane, absurd, totally ridiculous turn. Her fantasies became… deviant. Her mind filled with images of both the friends touching her at the same time. Although, touching was such a lukewarm word for the thoughts she had about three of them together. The more she tried to stop thinking about them, the more she thought of them. She wasn’t a prude. Threesomes were something that happened all the time. The difference was that she didn’t just want to fulfill a fantasy of having two hot billionaires take her ninety ways to heaven and then walk away. Maybe that’s what she had thought she wanted, but that changed about a month ago with the events that had derailed her life so completely she couldn’t think straight anymore.

  She’d also realized a startling truth. Of all the stupid things she had done in her life, falling in love with two men at the same time was the stupidest by far. It was unconventional, and sadly she lived in the real world. But if Ame got her stupid gift back, she would have to accept her dream was never going to happen and move on. She was serious this time. She had to get a life. Maybe even say yes to the other men who asked her out all the time. Those guys were attainable, not like two billionaires who dated super models, actresses and heiresses. They would never date a dreary accountant, not on their own, and most definitely not as a pair. What had she been taking, to even fantasize about a threesome with them? They would laugh in her face and send her home.

  She rose from her sofa and began to pace, chewing her thumbnail as she did so.

  Five minutes later, her phone rang. She answered before the tone could complete its first ring.

  “All the gifts given to them at their offices were already delivered to the MacPherson house,” Ame said immediately. “And they always store them in James’ study.”